It’s A Breeze

Yesterday evening we had a good opportunity to test drive our breezeway. I love it. It’s going to be a great space to hang out in especially on a hot day.

When we started thinking about an addition many years ago our ideas were driven in large part by the need to rebuild the dilapidated garage and our desire to be able to walk from the garage to the house under cover. We were both in agreement that the area between the garage and house didn’t need to be fully enclosed and at some point Dan started referring to the area as a breezeway.

Looking back, I’m not sure where I thought the breeze would come from, when it would come, or how it would be created. I guess I was thinking that we would get a breeze on a breezy day only. Or, we would create our own breeze with the assistance of a ceiling fan.

What I discovered yesterday evening, sitting in the breezeway with Dan, is that a slight breeze is created naturally. This is how Dan explained how he thinks it works. The front of the house faces south east and gets quite a lot of sun during the day. The back of the house is in shade most of the time. Due to the difference in sun exposure, the area at the back of the house is cooler than the area at the front of the house. The breeze, or air movement, in the breezeway is created as a result of the temperature difference in the two air masses. As the hot air from the front rises, cooler air from the rear is pulled through the breezeway to replace it.

It’s subtle, but noticeable, and very clever. I was blown away (pun intended) that Dan had this concept figured out.

We ended up sitting in the breezeway for more than two hours yesterday and it was very pleasant despite the temperature being in the high 80’s.

Dan reminded me that we stopped during our hike around Storm King Mountain the other day and listened to the breeze in the trees (see July 4 posting). He said he thinks there’s something therapeutic about a breeze. I agree.

But, experiencing the breeze in the breezeway yesterday wasn’t the best part of our hang, it was watching the fireflies that joined us there. Especially the one that made a stop at each rafter overhead as it moved from the front of the house to the back. It was quite magical to watch.